Title page for ETD etd-0403103-184303

An Examination of the Relationship between the Acceptability and Reported Use of Accommodations for Students with Disabilities by General Education Teachers and Teachers' Sense of Efficacy

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Department

Curriculum and Instruction

Advisory Committee

Advisor Name

Title

R. Kenton Denny

Committee Chair

Earl Cheek, Jr.

Committee Member

Janice Hinson

Committee Member

John Northup

Committee Member

Melinda Solmon

Dean's Representative

Keywords

acceptability

accommodations

modifications

teacher efficacy

disabilities

Date of Defense

2003-03-28

Availability

unrestricted

Abstract

Since the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), originally passed as the Education for All Handicapped Students Act in 1975, a growing number of students with disabilities are receiving their education in general education classrooms. This movement has placed the responsibility of educating students with disabilities on general education teachers with support from special education teachers. One of the responsibilities that general educators now have is the provision of accommodations in their classrooms. Teacher efficacy, the belief in one's ability to affect student learning, has been shown to be related to several classroom behaviors.

This study was conducted to examine the relationship between the acceptability and use of accommodations and teacher efficacy. An instrument, the Teacher Acceptability and Use Scale (TAUS) was developed to examine a teacher's judgement of the acceptability of common classroom modifications designed to support students with disabilities within their classes. In addition, the instrument required teachers to report their current use of each modification. An additional scale, the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale was administered to measure the teacher's belief in their ability to affect student learning.

Survey data were obtained from 187 teachers of grades 1 - 5 in the state of Louisiana. A principal component analysis of the TAUS revealed a 6-factor structure for the acceptability subscale and a 4-factor structure for the reported use subscale. Data indicated a high correlation between the acceptability and reported use of instructional accommodations. These results appear to support previous research on acceptability of behavioral interventions as well as prior research on instructional accommodations. Additionally, the data support a moderate correlation between teachers' sense of efficacy and the acceptability and use of accommodations.